How auction games will get you publicity

I refer to auction games, raffles, and activities as the “bells and whistles” of benefit auctions. It’s an understatement to call them revenue generators as they do more than make you money.

These are the fun add-ons designed to address specific problems, involve the crowd, trigger fun, attract press, and (yes) make you money.

Today’s post addresses the “attract press” piece.

Many groups seem decent at securing post-gala publicity, but it’s the pre-event recognition that will help you sell tickets to your event.

Read on for two ideas to help you secure elusive pre-event publicity for your charity auction.

By way of example, consider Headwaters Foundation, a public school foundation about two hours south of D.C.

The Foundation is located in what has traditionally been one of the poorer counties of Virginia. The group provides support for the public school system by increasing community involvement in education. Pitching two angles, a savvy Executive Director managed to score sought-after pre-event publicity in both her local paper and The Georgetowner. (The latter publication, as you might imagine from the name, caters to that trendy zip code in Washington, D.C. Although I haven’t researched it, I sense it also has a more affluent readership than her local paper, too.)

Considering the thousands of charities in the D.C. area, The Georgetowner wrote a coveted 8.5″ story on that gala, despite it being hosted two hours south of Washington, D.C. (It’s not a particularly large gala, either, with ~250 guests. Still she succeeded in securing publicity, even with a fairly straightforward dinner and auction.)

What gives?

I wasn’t on the call between the Executive Director and the reporter, so I can only glean information from the article here.

In the third sentence, the Executive Director states, “We’ve hired Red Apple Auctions of Alexandria to help us with both the silent and live auctions, and they have some great new ideas that we are implementing.”

Did you catch it? That single sentence had two tips that — if you follow the method – will help you secure publicity.

1. First, she said she hired someone.

Hiring someone ups the ante. It’s like a baseball team announcing that they’ve hired a new coach. You’re expecting something better.

So as you think about your nonprofit … who have you hired that brings with them an expectation of improvement?

Most organizations focus on announcing their band or headline entertainment.

Here’s a caution: Unless your entertainment is really well-known, you won’t attract publicity (or ticket sales) from your investment. The entertainment can make your event more memorable, but it doesn’t equate to the bottom line.

2. Talk about what makes your gala “new” or “different.”

Second, she talked “new ideas.”

New ideas means change. She’s saying, “Hey, we’re different.”

(And she’s right. Her group was using new ideas for their community.)

I don’t know if she shared specific new ideas with the reporter. If she did, they didn’t make it into the story.

But the important element to remember is that “new” is good for a story. In her case, the “new ideas” were auction games.

Here’s another nonprofit example that is outside of my area in Colorado.

If you were one of the first groups in your area to use that technology, that would be a story. You’d tell the reporter you’re using “the latest” technology. That’s a new angle for the reporter to cover as either a technology or public interest story, as they did for this benefit auction in Colorado Springs.

Truth be told, we don’t know if this group in Colorado was the first gala to use this technology. Maybe they were and maybe they weren’t.

Maybe they were the first to use bidding technology from THAT company.

Or maybe they were the first to use the concept altogether. We don’t know.

But they were the first gala that the reporter knew using the technology. That’s what counts.

So when you use auction games, raffles, and other new activities in your event, pitch it.

And where do you get these new auction games and raffle ideas?

Charity Auction Bells & Whistles is out of the gate. This video tutorial is stuffed with 22 juicy raffles, games, and activities you can use to create publicity, address unique problems, make money, and add loads of fun to your auction fundraiser.

Grab it now, before the price increases February 2011.

P.S. Headwaters enjoyed post-auction publicity, too. See how the Executive Director explained it to the reporter in that story?

About Sherry Truhlar

Fundraising auctioneer and education, helping schools and nonprofits plan more profitable benefit auctions. A prolific writer for her own blog and other fundraising sites, she’s been covered in The Beacon-News, Town & Country Magazine, The Washington Post Magazine, Northern Virginia Magazine, Wiley's Special Events Galore!, AUCTIONEER, and other publications.

Sherry, I’m so excited you wrote about PRE-event publicity. I’d much rather have the advance publicity designed to create excitement, sell more tickets and raise more money than the after the event news story (which is nice, too, for sure). But if I could only have one, I’d take the one that raises more money for my cause. Thank you for the tip. And Happy Thanksgiving.

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What auction planners say

Sherry, oh, Sherry! You were an invaluable asset to this year’s gala. With your assistance we were able to add so many new elements that truly made a difference in taking our event to another level. This year was the most successful yet! Everyone loved you and the amazing energy that you brought to the event. We look forward to having you again in 2018!

Thank you so much for the outstanding job you did for us on April 1! I have received so much positive feedback from so many who attended. You even earned Sister Suzan’s (our Vice-Principal) seal of approval! Safe travels to all your many events and thank you for making our biggest fundraiser of the year our best ever!

Sherry is flexible and easy to work with. She gives honest feedback and advice throughout the planning and implementation process. Without a doubt, Sherry and Red Apple Auctions has helped take our annual fundraising event to the next level.

Beckie Middendorf, Development Director and Janet Gulla, Development Coordinator

Sherry is “on board” from day one of auction planning, works closely with our steering committee and is only just a phone call away. The night of the auction, we toss her the keys and let her drive the event! We are never disappointed!

I was very fortunate to have Red Apple on board for my first auction. Working with Sherry was invaluable. She provided guidance at every phase of planning, from procurement on forward – and she challenged us to make our event more ambitious and more successful at every stage. Thank you, Sherry!

Sherry, personally, I can’t even begin to tell you the immense amount of positive feedback that I received having YOU (and Darby) there with is this year! Some of the tidbits: You added EXCITEMENT and ENTERTAINMENT… You added EXPERTISE and FUN… You helped the evening FLOW, in a wonderful and positive direction… You were FUN,… Read The Rest “Anne Livaudais Knudsen, 5th year gala co-chair”

Aren’t KK and Michael a cute couple? They liked that I “moved the crowd along … kept the crowd engaged but wasn’t obtrusive or invasive. We were able to talk but still keep track of what was going on.”

You have NO idea of how many people came up to me (I know Julie as well) and said, ‘That auctioneer was incredible … she engaged the crowd, … she got the bidders to bid without being rude/pushing, … I loved observing her, I just watched her, … she did a great job.’ It was… Read The Rest “Staci Meruvia”

Geri said: “Great job of getting potential donors in the room to step up to the plate and not feel guilty or bad about it. They actually wanted to give more … and that’s not something I’ve seen in many other auctioneers.” The following year, she herself ‘stepped up’ and became one of the gala… Read The Rest “Geri”

Irene attended one of my New Hampshire auctions and assumed I must be a radio personality — until I started to chant that fast talk. “I’ve been to this event before with a couple of other auctioneers,” she said, “Your ability to get personal with people in a way that isn’t intimidating — men, women,… Read The Rest “Irene”

Most product & consulting remarks are found on their respective webpages, but I’ve listed two below so you’re assured my products are as spot-on as my auctioneering. Not only was our 2013 auction a blast, but our Washington, D.C. public school raised $67,000 — that’s $25,000 more than last year! The evening went off… Read The Rest “Carolyn Kahn-Hall and Andrea Del Vecchio”

As a former Fox News Anchorwoman, I am often called on to perform at auctions. So, I know first-hand that auctioneering can be a difficult job. Sherry Truhlar is one of the best in the business. She is skillful at managing an audience and keeping them focused on the task at hand – which is… Read The Rest “Cynthia Steele Vance”